This invention concerns snowshoes, and in particular the invention relates to a harness assembly for retaining a user's boot securely on the snowshoe.
Snowshoes of the general type with which this invention is concerned are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,440,827, 5,699,630, and 5,687,491. Such snowshoes have included boot harness assemblies generally comprising a harness of flexible material extending up from a base, and a pair of straps engaged over the front of the shoe at spaced locations, each requiring separate operation of a buckle for the particular strap. These straps are often referred to as webbing. A heel strap, for passing horizontally around the back of the shoe or boot, also has been included to help retain the boot within the harness assembly.
Recent improvements have been made in the straps extending over the top of the boot in the harness assembly. One improvement has been the use of "switchback straps", one at each of the two over-the-boot locations, to gain a mechanical advantage in tightening of the strap. With the switchback harness straps, a strap is fixed at one side, passes through a common loop at the opposite side, and then back to the first side, where it is secured via a buckle or tightening device. When the strap is tightened, a 2:1 mechanical advantage is thus obtained.
In the present invention described below, a harness assembly employs, in part, the mechanical advantage principle described above, but in addition provides for a simpler design and assembly, as well as greater convenience in use by operation of only a single buckle for both strap locations on the harness assembly.